Survivor Series (2002)
Survivor Series (2002) was the 16th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on November 17, 2002, from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York and featured talent from both the Raw and SmackDown brands. The official theme song was "Always" by Saliva, who performed the song and Chris Jericho's entrance music live from The World. The main event from the Raw brand was the first ever Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship involving reigning champion Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Booker T, Rob Van Dam and Kane. Michaels won the match after last eliminating Triple H, pinning him after executing Sweet Chin Music. The predominant match on the SmackDown brand was Brock Lesnar versus The Big Show for the WWE Championship, which Big Show won by pinfall after chokeslamming Lesnar on a steel chair. The featured matches on the undercard were a triple threat elimination match for the WWE Tag Team Championship involving Edge and Rey Mysterio, Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo Guerrero), and Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. Los Guerreros won the match and became WWE Tag Team Champions after last eliminating Edge and Mysterio. This was the second Survivor Series event not to include any Survivor Series elimination matches, the first being in 1998. The event featured the return of Scott Steiner, who competed in his first WWE match since the 1994 Royal Rumble. Storylines The main feud heading into Survivor Series on the Raw brand was between Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Kane, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels over the World Heavyweight Championship. The feud started on the September 2 edition of Raw when Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded Triple H the World Heavyweight Championship in the form of the Big Gold Belt. Later on that edition, Triple H successfully defended the World title over Ric Flair but lost in a tag team match to both Ric Flair and Rob Van Dam towards the end of the show. On the September 9 edition of Raw, Rob Van Dam became the number one contender to the World Championship by defeating Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, and The Big Show in a fatal four-way elimination match. The following week on Raw, Van Dam lost the WWE Intercontinental Championship to Chris Jericho after interference by Triple H. At Unforgiven, Van Dam faced Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. Van Dam lost the title match after Ric Flair nailed him with the sledgehammer, allowing Triple H to finish him off with the pedigree, thus retaining the title. On the September 30 edition of Raw, Triple H defeated Bubba Ray Dudley to retain the World title. Then later that night, Kane won the Intercontinental Championship from Jericho despite interference from Triple H and Ric Flair. The match was made between Triple H and Kane for No Mercy on October 20 in which both Kane's Intercontinental Championship and Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship were at stake. On the October 7 episode of Raw, Kane successfully single handedly defended the World Tag Team Championship(that he had won on September 23) in a four team Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match as The Hurricane had been attacked earlier that evening (by Triple H and Ric Flair) and was thus unable to compete. The following week on Raw, Kane and The Hurricane lost the tag titles to Christian and Jericho. Later that night, Triple H defeated RVD in Canadian lumberjack strap match after Ric Flair nailed Van Dam from behind with the World title belt while the referee was distracted. At No Mercy, Triple H went on to defeat Kane in title unification match which Triple won the IC Title and unified with his World Title. On the October 21 edition of Raw, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff announced that the first ever Elimination Chamber would take place at Survivor Series. Bischoff did this, as he wanted the Elimination Chamber match to be better than SmackDown's Hell in a Cell main event at No Mercy. On the October 28 edition of Raw, Bischoff stated that the Elimination Chamber would be combination of WWE's Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, and WCW's War Games matches, in that a countdown timer comes from the Rumble and War Games, the enclosed cage format from War Games, and the elimination process from the Rumble and Series. Bischoff also added that the match will involve six superstars. This led to Bischoff revealing the six participants for the contest; Triple H, Chris Jericho, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Kane and Shawn Michaels. Later on that edition, when World Champion Triple H took on Kane in a Casket match, Shawn Michaels (who Triple H put out of action after their Unsanctioned Street Fight at SummerSlam) emerged from the casket and assaulted Triple H. To gain further payback, Michaels then nailed him with the Sweet Chin Music, allowing Kane to put Triple H in the casket and closed the lid to win the match. On the November 4 edition of Raw, Booker T and Kane defeated World Champion Triple H and Jericho in a tag team match after Michaels interfered again. Afterwards, Michaels accepted the offer of being part of the 1st ever Elimination Chamber for the World title at Survivor Series. The main feud on the SmackDown brand was between Brock Lesnar and The Big Show over the WWE Championship. Lesnar won the title three months prior at SummerSlam by defeating then-champion The Rock. Two months later at No Mercy, Lesnar defeated The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the title, pinning him after an F-5. On the October 24 edition of SmackDown, after claiming nobody on SmackDown could defeat him, Big Show was traded to SmackDown, immediately issuing a challenge to WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, who accepted later that night. Later that night, after Lesnar and Undertaker cut promos to one another, the Big Show threw Undertaker off the stage, thus injuring his neck. The next week on SmackDown!, Lesnar faced off against Rey Mysterio, which ended in a no contest after Big Show interfered and tossed Mysterio into the crowd. Shortly after the match ended, Big Show slammed Lesnar through the announce table. On the November 8 edition of SmackDown, after Lesnar defeated Eddie Guerrero in a non-title match, Big Show attacked Lesnar and slammed him off the stage. The following week on SmackDown, Lesnar's manager Paul Heyman was convinced more than anyone that Lesnar could not win, trying to talk him out of defending the title. Lesnar refused and decided to challenge The Big Show to the ring. As Big Show came out, Lesnar drove him through the Steel steps. Moments later, Lesnar took out Big Show with five chair shots then nailed him with the Championship belt, proving a point that Lesnar can beat The Big Show when they face off at Survivor Series. The other main feud on the card was between three tag teams, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit, Edge and Rey Mysterio, and Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo Guerrero), over the WWE Tag Team Championships. On the October 3 edition of SmackDown, General Manager, Stephanie McMahon announced an eight team tournament to determine the new WWE tag team champions for the previous pay-per-view, No Mercy. On that edition, Los Guerreros defeated Rikishi and Mark Henry in the first Quarter Final round. The following week on SmackDown, in the second Quarter Final round, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit defeated John Cena and Billy Kidman while Edge and Rey Mysterio defeated WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Tajiri to advance to the Semi-Finals tournament the following week. On the October 17 edition of SmackDown, Edge and Mysterio defeated Reverend D-Von and Ron Simmons to advance to the tournament. Later on that edition, Angle and Benoit advanced to the tournament by defeating Los Guerreros. At No Mercy, Angle and Benoit defeated Edge and Mysterio in the finals of a tournament to determine the first WWE Tag Team Champions. On the October 24 edition of SmackDown, Edge and Rey Mysterio defeated Los Guerreros in a number one contenders tag match to earn a shot at the tag titles. Later that night, the WWE Tag Team Champions, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit fought each other in an Unforgiven return match, which Benoit won after interference from Los Guerreros. The following week on SmackDown, both Benoit and Angle cost one another their matches. Angle helped Edge defeat Benoit then later that night, Benoit returned the favor by helping Eddie Guerrero defeat Angle. Afterwords, Angle and Benoit brawled at the halloween party, ending with Angle delivering an Angle slam and Benoit bashing the bottle into Angle's head at the same time, knocking each other down. On the November 7 edition of SmackDown, Angle and Benoit lost the WWE Tag team titles to Edge and Mysterio in the best 2 out of 3 falls match after Edge pinned Angle in the third and final fall. Another feud coming from the Raw brand was between Victoria and Trish Stratus for the WWE Women's Championship. At Unforgiven, Trish Stratus had captured her third Women's Championship from Victoria's mentor Molly Holly (who Trish lost the title to at King of the Ring on June 23). On September 23 on Raw, Stratus successfully defended the Women's title against both Molly Holly and Victoria in a Triple Threat match. Then on the following week's edition of Raw, Victoria challenged Stratus for the Women's title in a one-on-one contest but got Disqualified after hitting Stratus with a steel chair. On the October 7 edition of Raw, after Women's Champion, Trish Stratus, defeated Stacy Keibler in a Bra and Panties/Paddle on a Pole match, Victoria attacked Stratus and performed a Moonsault on her. Victoria claimed in the interview that back in their days as fitness models, WWE wanted both of them but Trish stole her spot. The two fought again for the Women's Championship at No Mercy with Stratus retaining. For the following four weeks, the two would have many clashes on Raw including on the November 11 edition of Raw, when Stratus ambushed Victoria following Victoria's attack on Terri Runnels. It was announced that the title would be put on the line in a hardcore rules match. Aftermath Shawn Michaels and Triple H continued their feud over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the November 25 edition of Raw, Michaels defended the World title against Rob Van Dam; however, Michaels retained the title because a DQ Finish involving Triple H attacking Rob Van Dam. The following week on Raw, Van Dam faced off against Triple H, with Michaels as Special Guest referee, to determine the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at Armageddon. Michaels awarded the win to Triple H and the two brawled with one another. The next week, on the December 9 edition of Raw, Michaels attacked Triple H and Ric Flair with an iron shovel outside the arena. Michaels then smashed Triple H with a trash can, causing him to fall inside a dumpster. Shortly after, Michaels climbed to the top of a trailer and jumped off onto Triple H. At Armageddon, Triple H defeated Michaels in a Three Stages of Hell match to win the title. The first match was a Street fight, which Triple H won. The match that followed was a Steel Cage match, which Michaels won. The third and final match was a Ladder match, which was won by Triple H. The following month, at Armageddon, Kurt Angle defeated The Big Show to end his near one-month reign as WWE Champion. At the Royal Rumble, in January 2003, Angle defeated Chris Benoit to retain the title, and Brock Lesnar won the Royal Rumble match by last eliminating The Undertaker. Lesnar went on to defeat Angle for the WWE Championship two months later at WrestleMania XIX, pinning him after an F-5. Two months later, at Judgment Day, Lesnar defeated Big Show in a Stretcher match to retain the WWE Championship. Later that year, at Vengeance, Angle defeated Lesnar and Big Show in a No Disqualification Triple Threat match to become the new WWE Champion. Angle won the match after pinning Lesnar following an Angle Slam. Angle went on to defeat Lesnar and retain the WWE Championship the next month at SummerSlam, forcing him to submit with the Ankle lock. Lesnar then regained the WWE Championship from Angle on the September 18 episode of SmackDown!, in an Iron Man match winning 5-4. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Survivor Series Category:Survivor Series Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2002 Pay-Per-View Events